What is your experience with USAA/True Car Buying?

[wormwood1978]

We are looking a purchasing a new car in the near future, specifically either a Malibu or an Accord.

As a USAA member, I have been playing around with the USAA car buying service powered by "True Car". There seems to be a large discount off of new car MSRP prices.

My question is this, what is your experience using this tool to get the best possible lowest price on a new vehicle? How likely is it to present the certificate to a dealer and still negotiate an even lower price?

The tool works like this, you are given a price and you print off a certificate directing you to a certain dealer who is supposed to honor the certificate. You can also take the certificate to a different dealer to see if they will honor the certificate.

Here is what I'm looking at
2015 Malibu LS $20,451 with a MSRP savings of $3114.
2015 Accord LX $21,246 with a MSRP savings of $2479.

 

[brslds]

Did this 3 years ago. It depends on the dealer. I drove to one 2 hours away only to find they didn't have the car they said they did and they pretty much tried to charge back the discount. So I walked away. Second dealer was different. They had the car but it was only missing one option out of my list. No big deal.

 

[Sierra048]

I used True Car certificate prices as the starting point in negotiations for both the vehicles in my sig. I beat the certificate pricing for both vehicles. I never wasted my gas to visit a dealership without calling first to verify if they honored the certificates. The only thing I didn't like about True Car was every time I went to the site to research, ex. changing preferences for options, it would initiate a brand new round of emails/certificates to the same dealers, chosen by True Car due to proximity, who would then try to contact me by phone. This became a tad bit annoying for me, and I would guess the dealers.

 

[stephen9666]

I've read some pretty mixed reviews about dealers accepting these. There was a recent thread in another forum about this and none of the three dealers would honor them.

I'm sure some dealers would honor them, but I don't know.

I have consulted Truecar to get pricing ideas.

Quote:

All three dealers, however, have refused to sell it to my dad for the TrueCar price. My dad called them, asked for arrangements to wire the money (and/or send a cashier's check), and all three said that they had to check with the "manager" first. All three then called my dad back and gave him the run-around. One insisted that my dad would have to buy some B.S. tire warranty to get the TrueCar price. Another wanted my dad to finance the car in order to get the TrueCar price (obviously looking to profit from "points" on a loan). And a third never called him back.

 

[fdcg27]

I think your best bet might be to decide what you want at what equipment or trim level, whether you want to pay cash or take advantage of any available cheap financing on what you want to buy and then email all of the surrounding dealers telling them what you want to buy, how you plan on paying for it and how soon you'll complete the purchase.
Ask for their best price, making it clear that you don't intend to have any phone conversations with them and that you aren't going to walk in and have to bargain them down.
Some dealers will play and some won't, but this should get you the best possible deal in your area on whatever you want to buy.
You also control the process, since you'll give out only as much personal information as you choose to do.
I got what I considered a great price on our '12 Accord doing just this, although they acted very dissapointed that I wouldn't take the tire/wheel service contract they offered.
Maybe I should have, since I've had to replace one of the OEM Dunlops due to an unrepairable puncture.

 

[JHZR2]

I was just shopping at true car, and the prices that they say are good/great really aren't.

 

[wormwood1978]

Prices seem to be about $1000-2000 higher than when I looked in December or January. I've heard right now is bad time to buy because of spring and tax return time, less manufacturer discounts.

 

[Ihatetochangeoil]

When I was a younger man, I worked at a new car dealership selling new cars. I don't have a high opinion of dealers in general. The ONLY ones who know what the dealer pays for the car are the IRS, the dealer owner, and God.

I do not believe there is any moral difference between most car dealerships and the local crack dealers. Both will lie, cheat, steal and sell their mothers down the river for a buck. Please note that I said MOST. I know of honest car dealers, but I think they're rare.

As an example, I travel quite a bit for my job. There is a car dealership literally less than a mile from our house, where we gave several thousand dollars in service business a few years ago. While I was out of state, my wife called me and said she had a burned out turn signal bulb. I told her to take it to this dealer and have it fixed. How much do you think they charged?

$45.00 with a straight face; and my wife told me it took longer to write out the service ticket than to do the work. I went in to the service manager and told him he got his $45 and lost a customer.

My opinion regarding new cars is that you should NEVER finance anything that depreciates 20-30% within two weeks of ownership. If you can't write out a check for the car, you shouldn't buy it.

I financed one car when I was 19. Thereafter, make monthly car payments to yourself in savings. When what you're driving wears out, go write a check for a newer one. And don't buy a new one unless you can afford $15K depreciation in the first year.

 

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: wormwood1978
We are looking a purchasing a new car in the near future, specifically either a Malibu or an Accord.

As a USAA member, I have been playing around with the USAA car buying service powered by "True Car". There seems to be a large discount off of new car MSRP prices.

My question is this, what is your experience using this tool to get the best possible lowest price on a new vehicle? How likely is it to present the certificate to a dealer and still negotiate an even lower price?

The tool works like this, you are given a price and you print off a certificate directing you to a certain dealer who is supposed to honor the certificate. You can also take the certificate to a different dealer to see if they will honor the certificate.

Here is what I'm looking at
2015 Malibu LS $20,451 with a MSRP savings of $3114.
2015 Accord LX $21,246 with a MSRP savings of $2479.


After retiring I went back to work at a dealer. Been at 6 now in 10 years.
You can get a better deal working it yourself.

-----------------
TrueCar | Never overpay. Hassle-free car buying from ...
https://www.truecar.com/
TrueCar
... hidden fees. Discover great deals on 2014 and 2015 new cars and trucks with TrueCar. ... Car buying that shows you what others paid, so you never overpay.
____________________

I don't want to pay what others pay. 70% of the people here are morons.
Evidence?? Kardashians sign massive $100 million deal

 

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: Ihatetochangeoil
When I was a younger man, I worked at a new car dealership selling new cars. I don't have a high opinion of dealers in general. The ONLY ones who know what the dealer pays for the car are the IRS, the dealer owner, and God.

I do not believe there is any moral difference between most car dealerships and the local crack dealers.



My crack dealer is very insulted you put him in the same boat as a car dealer

 

[clarkflower]

Just go in and offer 500 under invoice. They still have holdback and step-up bonus money not included

http://zautos.com/vehicle/ebrochure/2014/chevrolet/malibu/ltz-4dr-sedan-w*1lz/ecotec-2.5l-i4-196hp-191ft.-lbs./6_speed-automatic-w*overdrive/
Invoice Price
2014 Chevrolet Malibu LTZ 4dr Sedan w/1LZ $26,262.00
MSRP $27,790.00
-------------
http://zautos.com/vehicle/ebrochure/2014...ously-variable/

Invoice Price
2014 Honda Accord LX 4dr Sedan CVT $20,830.00

MSRP $22,755.00

 

[90crvtec]

Truecar is a starting point. What I have noticed is that a lot of manufacturers seem to be placing their invoice and MSRP pricing closer together. Invoice pricing isn't really what the dealer pays anymore, and it hasn't been that way for years now. You'll still find dealers cutting deep under the invoice prices, even without any known incentives available to the public.

I haven't priced the Malibu but, I had a 2014 Accord LX CVT down to 19,500 before TTL at my local dealer in October of 2014. The 2015 Accord is due for a refresh in the Fall and you will have a similar amount of bargaining room then and can probably get that price right now if you get a few dealers bidding against each other.

I've never used any of the USAA or Costco car buying services. From what I've seen with Costco, they get a car for invoice or slightly less but, it isn't really a deal. I still think the best deal is to avoid the pre-packaged discount services and just reach out to as many dealers on your own as you can to get the most bids.

 

[clarkflower]

Originally Posted By: 90crvtec
a lot of manufacturers seem to be placing their invoice and MSRP pricing closer together. Invoice pricing isn't really what the dealer pays anymore, and it hasn't been that way for years now. You'll still find dealers cutting deep under the invoice prices, even without any known incentives available to the public.
.

Yep and they only pay the salesman commission on money over invoice so that is a saving (cheating) too. Keep in mind if you hid,cut or divert the "profit" of 2g per car at 200 cars per month, pay the salesman a 100 flat you "make" an extra $60,000 dollars a month by not paying commission. It's not small money....It's an extra $720,000 a year in your pocket.

Ihatetochangeoil says The ONLY ones who know what the dealer pays for the car are the IRS, the dealer owner, and God.

I find this to be true (if you include the GSM and the sales managers)
I saw a Maxima sell 3000 under invoice at the end of the month. Keep in mind that the dealer can get an extra 1500 per car in bonus money if they hit a certain number.

 

[jimbrewer]

The car buying services are mostly useful for price discovery. I tried the Sam's Club service and got a competitive quote, but it required a $400 shipping fee from the dealer hundreds of miles away. So I offered the local dealer the Sam's Club price plus half the shipping charge and got the car. I didn't tell them that that was what I was doing, of course.

I know it was a good price because it was off the chart to the left of the Truecar price, plus, the dealer practically threw me off the lot when I was done.

If the service is really being run by USAA I trust them to be an honest broker. If it's some outfit they've rented their name to, you are on your own.

PS: Discussions about msrp, invoice, dealer profit margins and window stickers ate all irrelevant. The only thing that matters is the price a willing and informed buyer will pay a willing seller in an arm's length transaction. Period. I don't think I even looked at the sticker until I got home.

 

[Vuflanovsky]

I think there are multiple insurance companies that utilize a buying service whether it's TrueCar or someone else and most, from my experience, will give you a median price that you ( depending on the dealer and model ) can probably beat if you like to do the haggle thing. If the car is a slow seller that's been on the lot for 128 days and the buyer hands the sales manager a TrueCar certificate, you might think of that as being in favor of the dealer as you can probably get another few hundred off the price.

I believe TrueCar's selling point is supposedly giving you what the average selling price for the car is in your area and not necessarily what a "good deal" is...their commercials have the buyers extolling the fact that they weren't taken because they're paying what everyone else is paying...which might be good or not depending again on the model, dealer, holdbacks, throwbacks, halfbacks, etc.

 

[wormwood1978]

On the particular car I'm looking at, the tool gave me $22,688, $23,018 and $23,618. I now have my own quotes of $21,493, $21,034 and $21,855, all fees included except tax, license and title. I have not tried negotiating yet, only mentioned I'm shopping around for the best price.

 

[Panzerman]

I was completing buying a new car and checked a few websites. True Car was by far the worse. If you live in a high income area, such as I do, expect to pay more. People don't deal. The prices people pay are going to be higher. Nothing beat a good barginer and someone who can play the game. I know I can get a better deal on my own. I don't want to be the middle payer, I want to get it for the absolute cheapest price, its my money.

 

[wormwood1978]

updating my three quotes to 21533, 21855 and 21433. I'm surprised how relatively close all three quotes were as if they are all using the same pricing and discount formula.

 

[Schmoe]

That's a pretty good price for that Accord. Honda also has some seriously low interest rates too.

 

[Hootbro]

Originally Posted By: Ihatetochangeoil
When I was a younger man, I worked at a new car dealership selling new cars. I don't have a high opinion of dealers in general. The ONLY ones who know what the dealer pays for the car are the IRS, the dealer owner, and God.

I do not believe there is any moral difference between most car dealerships and the local crack dealers. Both will lie, cheat, steal and sell their mothers down the river for a buck. Please note that I said MOST. I know of honest car dealers, but I think they're rare.

As an example, I travel quite a bit for my job. There is a car dealership literally less than a mile from our house, where we gave several thousand dollars in service business a few years ago. While I was out of state, my wife called me and said she had a burned out turn signal bulb. I told her to take it to this dealer and have it fixed. How much do you think they charged?

$45.00 with a straight face; and my wife told me it took longer to write out the service ticket than to do the work. I went in to the service manager and told him he got his $45 and lost a customer.

My opinion regarding new cars is that you should NEVER finance anything that depreciates 20-30% within two weeks of ownership. If you can't write out a check for the car, you shouldn't buy it.

I financed one car when I was 19. Thereafter, make monthly car payments to yourself in savings. When what you're driving wears out, go write a check for a newer one. And don't buy a new one unless you can afford $15K depreciation in the first year.


So for a guy that claims to have worked at a new car dealership, did you stop to think maybe the dealership you sent your wife to would have a minimum shop charge like most do?

I get that $45 is costly for a bulb change but on the same token, most people know you do not go into a dealership for simple things like this because they do have minimum shop rates.

If it was so easy, maybe your wife could have actually handled it? Just saying.